by Fuyumi Ono
The thing was in no hurry to leave. Cruising lazily back and forth, its belly brushed the surrounding treetops, raising a sound like gravel scraping on glass.
“It smells blood.” Gankyuu’s stifled voice was barely audible. “It smells me. Shushou, get out of here.”
“No.”
“This is the same thing as the haku. Don’t worry about it.”
“It’s not at all the same thing. If I was a haku, I would have escaped with you and your haku. Unfortunately, I’m a human being.”
“Aren’t you going to become a koushu?”
“I am. But to do that I need a guild master to guide me.”
“Koushu don’t throw away their lives for no good reason. They always chose the best means to ensure the longest life. A sacrifice made under those conditions is no sacrifice.”
“Then too bad I’m not really a koushu.”
No sooner had she spoken but a sound rang out very close by. Shushou felt the blood drain from her face.
It came from the vicinity of a big mound, one of the tree trunks held aloft by the great tangle of roots. A face poked out from among the roots strung across the face of the mound. The head of a wolf covered with red hair but as big as a tiger. Shushou clearly sensed its black eyes locking on hers.
Gankyuu grasped the scabbard bound to his right leg as a splint. “Crawl under the roots there.”
“But—”
Before she could finish that thought, Gankyuu grabbed her by the head and shoved her down. He drew the sword with great difficulty. This youma was probably a kasso. It stared back at Gankyuu, not budging an inch.
Branches snapped over their head. The san’yo circled lower and lower.
His hand around the hilt had hardly any strength left in it. He might have a fighting chance if he only had to worry about the san’yo. But there was the kasso barely a few arm lengths away.
“Shushou, stay there and don’t move. Tuck yourself into a ball and don’t make a sound. If it gets quiet up here, run. Sorry about this, but give my red passport to Kinhaku.”
“That’s not funny!”
A wounded older man on the one hand, an otherwise healthy young girl on the other. Right now, the best odds lay with the girl. That was the way the koushu saw things. According to that logic, had fate dealt the cards the other way around, Gankyuu would be more likely to survive, meaning he’d be leaving Shushou in the lurch instead.
But given the present circumstances, there wasn’t any debate about who had the longest life ahead of her.
Gankyuu raised the sword—or just barely managed to as he searched for a foothold. He took a step forward. At that moment, he heard again what sounded very much like a bird call. It didn’t come from the kasso or the san’yo, but from a completely different direction.
Not another one, Gankyuu thought, sinking to his knees.
As if unleashed by the bird call, the kasso leapt up from between the roots. Faster than Gankyuu could swing his sword, the kasso vaulted into the sky, broke through the branches, and made a beeline straight for the san’yo.
Chapter 40
[6-2] Shushou crouched down next to Gankyuu. “What?” she blurted out. “Why?”
Had a new predator arrived, fierce enough to make a kasso take flight? Gankyuu glanced around for this new enemy. He saw nothing, only heard a wail like a sudden squall. The threatening cry of a san’yo, Gankyuu knew. The high-pitched roar of the kasso followed soon after.
The kasso clamped its jaws around the flying snake’s neck. The san’yo lashed back and forth in vain.
Shushou and an equally dumbfounded Gankyuu watched the fantastical scene unfold. Youma fought over food and territory all the time. But not when there was blood in the air and prey right in front of their eyes. After the game had been brought down, perhaps. A youma never chose to fight instead of feast.
Sunlight flashed through the leafy branches. Drops of rain drummed against the leaves. A dark red rain. Next came the writhing san’yo and the kasso, sinking its teeth deeper into the neck of the struggling snake.
Its scales glittered in the scattered sunlight. The kasso stepped on its wings and jerked its head to the side, tearing off the san’yo’s head. The long, reptilian torso whipped back and forth. And suddenly grew still. Aside from an occasional twitch, it was quite dead.
Devouring the scaly head, the kasso cast a brief, backwards glance at Gankyuu. Lit up by a beam of sunlight, the bands of reddish brown fur around its head and shoulders turned into translucent tongues of flame.
The kasso lost interest in Gankyuu and returned its attention to its meal. Beneath its feet, the san’yo twitched again, casting off flashes of light.
It was Shushou who prodded the gaping Gankyuu. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Ah.” Gankyuu nodded, still in a daze. But it was a soft neigh that brought him back to his senses. That bird call—and now this neigh—that sounded an awful lot like his haku. He couldn’t help looking around for the source.
“Gankyuu—”
Shushou pointed at the kasso, finishing up the san’yo. Past the column of sunlight, a human figure appeared in the forest. A horse—an animal that looked like a horse—was with him. No, it was undoubtedly the haku, still wearing its saddle and packs.
The man was holding the reins and leading it towards them, his face was lost in the green shadows.
“A human being?” Shushou said aloud. One of the koushu no tami. It had to be. A quiet physique too slender for a man, too rugged for a woman, showing not the slightest sign of fear or horror at the grotesque scene before them.
It wasn’t Rikou or one of the other goushi. He was wearing a shawl. What did they call it? All the goushi used them as scarf and windbreaker. The shawl wrapped around his head and shoulders. Between the layers of fabric she could make out hard lines and sharp shadows. Armor, perhaps?
Leading the haku along, he passed by the kasso without the slightest reaction. He stepped over the long, limp tail of the san’yo. For a moment, the column of sunlight revealed a young and gentle face.
Gankyuu and Shushou stood there in awed silence. He walked up to them. “Is this haku yours?”
His voice was young too. Gankyuu nodded. The slender man—more a teenager—held out the reins to Gankyuu. His actions remained calm and collected throughout. The haku, on the other hand, bobbed its head energetically. The reins slipped through Gankyuu’s fingers. The haku instead lowered its head and rested its muzzle on Gankyuu’s shoulder.
When Gankyuu was training him, this was how the haku sought his approval. Gankyuu patted him on the neck. “Good boy. Good boy. Nice to see you safe and sound.”
Whether or not the haku understood he’d been abandoned, he affectionately rubbed his muzzle against Gankyuu’s shoulder. Gankyuu stroked the smooth curve of his neck. Bathed in the soft green light, the haku’s coat cast off a glossy sheen.
“Are you one of the koushu no tami?” He asked the question in the same soft voice, with no note of reproach.
Gankyuu nodded. “Greatly appreciated. Did you rescue the haku?”
“It was tied with a black rope, so I assumed the owner was on the run from a youma. I see you are wounded.”
“Ah, that.” Using the sword as a cane, Gankyuu let go of the haku and slumped to the ground. “As you can see, you saved our necks as well.”
“Um,” Shushou said. She pointed at the feasting youma. “Isn’t that a youma? Should we just stand here chatting? Or is that your kijuu?”
The boy shook his head. “Not a kijuu. Call it an acquaintance.”
“A youma is your acquaintance?”
“Well, more or less.”
As they talked, Shushou got a better up-close look at him. He wasn’t much older than herself.
He asked her, “Are you a koushu too?”
Gankyuu said, “No is the best answer to that question.”
“I don’t suppose you could help us out here? We’d be really, really grateful.”
“Sure,” he said without any prevarication. “With all the bloodshed, we should get moving.” He reached down to Gankyuu. “That leg of yours, you should saddle up. I’ll show you to a safe place.”
As he pulled Gankyuu to his feet, a gap opened up in the shawl wrapped around his shoulders, Shushou gaped at the sight of the antique armor beneath, yet finely made and in good condition. The string of gems hanging across his right shoulder to his left side sparkled with a clean, clear light, casting off a rainbow of colors as he moved. Stranger still, this beautiful jewelry didn’t appear at all ornamental.
A shawl woven with gems—
Shushou raised her eyes and examined the side of the boy’s face with wide eyes as he helped him into the saddle.
Gankyuu extended his hand and then stopped, the look on his face little different than Shushou’s.
Chapter 41
[6-3] Shushou posed the question to herself over and over: You can’t possibly be— She couldn’t bring herself to say the words aloud.
Gankyuu rode on the haku. The boy walked alongside him holding the reins. Shushou reached out and hesitantly took his free hand. He only glanced over his shoulder, didn’t shake her off, but clasped her hand with his, a warm and gentle grip.
He looked like an ordinary young man, though the way he carried himself hinted of the warrior within. He strode through the forest without the slightest wariness or concern. At first, Shushou was sure he was headed for the koushu village. Instead he returned to the hill where Gankyuu had abandoned the haku.
Winding around the hill and pressing through a thicket at its base, they came upon a narrow creek and followed it upstream. The sun was setting when they entered a rocky area and made their way to a spring bubbling out of the rocks. A copse of gnarled pine trees clung to the adjacent boulders.
The spring was a step down from the stone table. The boughs of the pine trees almost completely closed out the sky above.
He tied the haku to a stake wedged into a crevice in the rock and turned his attention to a hearth beneath a small ledge of stone.
What an ideal place, Shushou thought. He must come here often. He moved about with a natural sense of familiarity. Her mind astir, she watched as he built a fire from the pine needles and dead branches he’d gathered along the way.
Being wise to such a safe haven indicated his deep knowledge of the Yellow Sea. Except not only knowing of such of place, but visiting it often, wasn’t the kind of thing the typical guardian did.
I don’t believe it. You can’t possibly be— She still couldn’t give voice to her question from before.
In the dusky grove, beneath the pine trees, the twilight came all the quicker to the spring. The pleasant breezes stilled. Shushou at last commanded herself to move. Petting and reassuring the haku, she removed the saddle and travel packs, brought it to the spring to drink, then opened the feed bag and spilled some out on the ground.
“I’m so relieved.” She wrapped her arms around the haku’s neck as it bent down to eat. She really was grateful it was safe. She hugged the warm haku and said so over and over in her heart. Hot tears stung the corner of her eyes. She rubbed her face against the haku’s fur.
She glanced over her shoulder to see Gankyuu sitting slumped against the stone wall blankly watching her and the haku. She ran over to him.
“Are you okay? Does it hurt?”
He managed a smile. “Stings a bit.”
“There’s no need to fib. That must hurt like the blazes.” The boy’s very human tone of voice confused Shushou all the more. “Miss, the wound needs to be cleaned. Draw some fresh water.”
Shushou bobbed her head, wrung what remained out of the leather water bag and filled it from the spring. Setting it down, she took hold of Gankyuu’s hands and helped him to his feet. Coming to a standing position, he glanced at the boy, who was tending to the fire.
“Shinkun—”
The boy glanced back at him, only waiting for the rest of the sentence.
“Thank you. For the haku too. Much appreciated.”
“Give your thanks to Heaven. You are simply the beneficiaries of very good fortune.”
Shushou scrutinized him as best she could without staring. Gankyuu called him Shinkun and he’d responded.
“Kenrou Shinkun,” she said aloud.
Squatting next to the fire, Shinkun turned his attention to her.
“But you look like an ordinary human being.”
He laughed a very human laugh. “I don’t recall ever being anything but. Here, let me help you.”
He lent Gankyuu a shoulder. Shushou followed them to the spring. They sat Gankyuu down. Shushou took off his boots and chaps, undid the dressing around the wound and washed it off.
“I never thought,” Gankyuu mused, “that Shinkun was a real person.”
“Well, if you don’t consider wizards people then you would be correct. I am a simple Tensen, a wizard of Heaven.”
“A Tensen.”
“Like a Hisen, a wizard of the air. They live a little longer than most but are by birth never anything but human.”
“Huh,” said Shushou. “Do you serve the gods of Gyokkei?”
“Good question, that.”
“Then you don’t?”
“Enough of the third degree,” Gankyuu interrupted.
Shinkun only reacted with a small smile. “Tensen do not, as a rule, interact with humans. So perhaps we should stick to the matter at hand and avoid unnecessary tangents?”
“Oh. Sorry.”
Shushou apologized and concentrated on Gankyuu’s leg. She washed away the dried blood with a wet cloth. Amazing, she thought to herself. If Shinkun was a human being, then maybe the rest of the Gods were too. And somewhere there might be a real Gyokkei, a kingdom where they all dwelled.
“There are more mysteries in this world than I would ever have imagined,” she mumbled aloud. She said to Shinkun, “This okay? Oh, I mean, do you think that is all right?”
Shinkun said with a wry smile, “Don’t fret the formalities.
He bent over Gankyuu leg. Gankyuu was rooting through one of his travel packs for something. Shinkun stopped him and took a small bamboo flask from the bag attached to his armor at his waist.
“Do you have a fresh cloth there?”
Shushou hurriedly got a clean hand towel from the pack. He poured some of the liquid in the flask onto the towel and applied it to the wound. He capped the flask and handed it to Shushou.
“Take this. Have him drink some if it starts to hurt too badly. There’s not a lot but it should tide him over until the wound heals.”
“Um, what—” is this, she was going to ask. He spoke first.
“You don’t appear to be a koushu.”
“Well, I’m not. I’m going to Mt. Hou.”
Bandaging Gankyuu’s leg, Shinkun glanced over his shoulder at her. “You?”
“Yes, me. Gankyuu is a shushi. But I, um, had him come with me as a goushi.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
The blunt dismissal could help but get Shushou’s goat. “I am fully aware of how ridiculous that might sound.”
“Why would a child like you think of going on the Shouzan in the first place?”
“Because I thought myself a worthy vessel.”
“Shushou,” Gankyuu chided her under his breath. She paid him no heed.
“You certainly aren’t lacking for self-confidence.”
“My professors taught me there was nothing wrong in believing in yourself.”
“And pride goeth before a fall. Would you even understand what being empress involves?”
Shushou felt the blood rushing to her cheeks. “What’s that supposed to mean?” Koushu and wizards, they were one and the same when it came to this subject. “I’ve had it to here with this attitude that I can’t comprehend something because I’m a child! Do you think I would have come to the Yellow Sea in the first place if I didn’t know what being empress involved?”
“And wit
h that knowledge in hand, you thought yourself capable of becoming empress?”
“Yes. What, you don’t see it?”
“In any case,” Shinkun said, eyeing her coldly, “you’re going to have to make your own way after this. Just to let you know, there are already youma headed this way. They won’t attack as long as I am here. But as soon as I leave, they will, without a doubt, make their way up here.”
Shushou glared back at him. “I’m not surprised. Become a wizard and you lose your humanity.”
“The throne is not a child’s plaything, not furniture you sit on but a burden you must bear. If you truly comprehended the responsibilities and obligations of a ruler, you would be the last one to claim yourself as a worthy vessel.”
“I do comprehend. The burden the emperor must be bear is the kingdom itself and the lives of every one of its subjects. Simply choosing between two equally compelling options can mean that ten thousand will die on the other hand and ten thousand mourn on the other.”
“And you’re saying you could correctly make such decisions?”
“Of course I’m not!” Shushou shouted at him.
Gankyuu started a bit. “Shushou—”
“I am a child. I don’t know anything about the in and outs of imperial government and administration. When I came to the Yellow Sea, I couldn’t take a single step without relying on the help of others. A person like me could hardly safeguard the lives of others! The best I could do on my own was study, go to school, and become minor government official. That should be obvious on its face. If a person like me really did have what it takes, the kirin should at least have met me halfway rather than coming to a place like this.”
“Then why go on the Shouzan?”
“Because it was my duty!” The long journey through the Yellow Sea had done nothing if not convince her of her own powerlessness. “I am a subject of Kyou. If I was the prime minister, I would make a law that everybody in the kingdom had to go on the Shouzan when the flag of the kirin was raised!”
Her father had no desire to go on the Shouzan. He wouldn’t do anything to compromise the good life he already enjoyed.
